2013, Cross Town Classic
2014, Cross Town Classic
2017, Cross Town Classic
STEP UP CHEROKEE! GO CHIEFS!
Remember back when you were BMOC . . . big men on campus? . . . when the girls swooned as you raced by? (OK, that's way over the top!)
2013, Cross Town Classic
2014, Cross Town Classic
2017, Cross Town Classic
On July 4, 2017, the team continued something of a tradition when many showed-up for the Marlton Mayor's Cup 5K. The race is ten years old and probably around that time the team started using it as a "fun run." Now, it has evolved into something more: an early "time trial" that allows the guys to judge their fitness and training, and maybe a little competition among the runners to assert "something primal!" (Insert grunting sound here.) A number of Alums show-up, sometimes to put the youngsters in their place -- Matt Mueller, '02, who took 2nd this year, was home eating breakfast before the first Cherokee team member finished! -- and some just to say hello to friends and coaches. (See Alums at: Cherokee Alums Page.)
This year, Justin Kelly took 3rd, just beating a 22-year-old from Pennsylvania who challenged him throughout the race; and he was followed closely by David Jackson, Chase Miller, Mike Iannotta, Jake Hyzy, Matt Smith, Brett Shea, Bobby Hackney, Ty Jackson, Ethan Wechsler, Joe Falk, Ian Bialy, Dylan Odud, Tyler Ortiz, Matt Campbell and Niko Grilli.
Cherokee's two running coaches showed-up for the event: Coach Thompson to race and Coach Shaklee, who is still nursing a foot injury, to cheer!
Race results and a finish line video are available at: SJ Timing. The video link is at the top left on the first page of the results: click on the YouTube logo! Also, they changed the timing company so previous race results may not be available at the last timer's site. Some can be found at: Evesham Celebrations.
Yikes! Our photographer really blew the job -- it's a long story with many "couldas, wouldas and shouldas" -- but he managed, through an insane level of PhotoShopping, to save some marginal results. Apologies to all and especially to those whose pictures couldn't be saved!
On July 15, 2017, two Alums and two team members were seen at the Sun and Sand 5K in Wildwood. Alum Matt Mueller, '02 took 1st in the race (16:49: 5:25 pace) and Alum Dan Schules took 21st (22:03: 7:06 pace). In between those two were David Jackson in 2nd (17:38: 5:41) and Chase Miller in 4th (18:34: 5:59). Their appearance was something of a surprise as the coach strongly encourages the team to focus on the future and to concentrate on progressive summer training, not summer racing!
Results and race finish line video at: SJ Timing. Picture provided by Dan Schules.
Between August 13 and 19, 2017, a large group of Chiefs attended the Nike-sponsored 19th Annual RunningWorks Cross Country Camp in delightful Canadensis, Pennsylvania! As usual, there was a great group of coaches, college runners, and other high school runners to learn from and train with, as well as a quirky special guest speaker, Tommy Awad, our own RunningWorks' Director, Olympian Marcus O'Sulivan, and Jamaican Olympian (as well as dancer and singer) Ringo Adamson!
Further details on the camp, including an insane number of pictures taken throughout the week, are available at: RunningWorks. The pictures below, some of which do not appear on the RunningWorks site, were also taken throughout the week.
Trivia Questions for 2018:
Question: "What's the drop in elevation from camp down to the bottom of Upper Seese Hill at RT. 447?"
Answer: Oh, Mama, ask this year's B Group: It's about 400 feet over 3.5 miles, but none but the most courageous, most foolhardy, or just plain
lost take that route because "what goes down must come back up!"
Question: In Trivia, who remembered the EXACT time for the World Record in the 5K to break the tie and win the game for his cabin?
Answer: Cherokee's brainiac (No, not the comic villain) Chris Spisak! 12:37.35! Yikes!
Question: In the camp's inaugural Talent Show, who was the melodious Cherokee guy who (with an unnamed Pingry guy) took a close 2nd
for his sweet rendition of "Hallelujah"?
Answer: Cherokee's Brandon Marks, backed up by The Four Chiefs, made the girls swoon!
Question: Of the Cherokee guys, who crushed Ringo's Shoe Drill?
Answer: With pictures as absolute proof, clearly Matt Smith handled the drill with style and grace!
GO CHEROKEE!
This coming Saturday, September 9, 2017, the team gets to host the greatest of the early meets here in New Jersey! Two miles, short and sweet, starts at 9 AM, done by 12:30 PM! For 21 years, it ran like clockwork, even when hurricanes washed out the lower course, and, so far, this year's on-coming hurricane -- Hurricane Irma -- poses no threat to the event! Expect it to run perfectly this year!
Look forward to the Cherokee Challenge as an opportunity to show off and to have some fun! Yes, winning IS A LOT OF FUN but keep it in perspective: it's a "rust buster" and a chance to see how all of your summer training pays off. It's not the state championships . . . don't make it like that!
In passing, while looking at Alum Jack Shea's first race at Northern Arizona, we saw how their coach viewed that event:
We are going to run our No. 1 ranked men's cross country team to let the fans get to see our squad," Coach Michael Smith said. "It's a great chance for our athletes to test out our process and go through a dry run or dress rehearsal for what's coming later in the season."
"The race is just one part of that," he added. "How we prepare the evening before, the morning of, warming up, getting on that uniform for the first time this season, all of those things are good for us to go through once before things get a little more serious for us later on in the season. It'll be a nice test run for all of those aspects of our process."
Coach Shaklee and Coach Thompson will mention some of "the process" as the meet approaches and they will remind you of additional details as other meets approach, but here are a few things to help your preparation: (1) Set-up a kit that includes everything you might need on meet day: uniform, sweats, water bottle, snacks (Power Bar?), dry towel, dry shirt and pants, pins for attaching numbers, TP (really!), racing shoes, prescribed medicines, trash bag (million uses!), extra socks, water-proof jacket, cheap gloves, hat, band aids, Vaseline (for chafing), massage tool . . . what else?! Give it some thought! (2) Keep a diary where you record your practices and progress; keep all commercial race numbers where you write on the back what you remember (the good and the bad, the course, your time, the weather, biggies you beat, biggies who beat you, etc.; and keep all pictures from the meet, especially the bad ones of you because they'll make you laugh when you show them to your children!
On September 9, 2017, the team welcomed thousands of runners, their coaches, parents and relatives, and fans of Cross Country to Cherokee's 22nd Annual Cherokee Challenge! Unlike last year when temperatures soared close to 100 degrees, this year the weather was ideal throughout the day!
For the team, it was a dedent start to the year but probably indicated that The Chiefs have work to do before the championship season.
The team highlight was the Sophomore race as Chris Spisak earned Runner of the Meet honors for his impressive victory! Indeed, he clocked a time 50 seconds faster than what he ran last year to get 3rd in the freshman race! Chris' summer training is really paying off! Behind him, Cherokee provided two other nice performances! Chase Miller, took 5th, up from 11th last year, with a 1 minute improvement; and Ethan Wechsler took 19th, up from 51st last year, with a huge 1:32 PR!
As expected, Justin Kelly had the fastest time on the team with his 2nd place finish in the senior race and a course PR by 41 seconds! Also in the senior race, Jon Conn, running the Challenge for the first time since his frosh year, came within 20 seconds of his track PR to place 42nd, while Matt Smith continued his yearly improvement. Matt ran in the 13's as a freshman, the 12's as a soph, and in the 11's last year: this year, he ran in the 10's and finished among the top-50 in his race for the 2nd year in a row! In the junior race, David Jackson managed a top-30 finish for a medal despite on-going hip issues that have hampered his training and performance. The freshmen were led by Brett Shea who medaled with his 22nd place finish, and Dylan Odud, Ian Bialy and Bryan Lafferty all finished between 48th and 55th in the field of over 400 runners!
Details at: NJ.MileSplit.
On September 12, 2017, the team traveled to Rowan University for the first of two Conference practice meets at their new high school course. While the entire team ran the course at the Conference Batch Meet #1, only four Cherokee athletes were actually racing: Matt Morgan led the group placing 33rd in the field of 165 runners; Matt Campbell and Nik Kadirisani ran their first races of the season with both not too far away off their 5K PRs; and Senior Zac Miller, running his first cross country race ever, put in a nice effort to run faster than expected. The others all ran assigned paces as a tempo run and, with only a few exceptions, they hit their times well. ;< )
Details at: NJ.MileSplit.
